Cyclocross Racing!

Hey everyone, it's been a while since i've updated, but lots has been going on, mainly, it's 'Cross Season! And that means more suffering for me. I feel like where i was 3yrs ago when i started track racing... All the guys i have no prob keeping up with on the track are booting me in the hiney on the 'cross scene, pretty funny.

You see, i'm a very conditioned athlete - i do high cadence and low-torque very well. Put me in a situation after doing that for 8 months where it's the opposite - low cadence and high-torque, stop-and-go, and you've got a world of hurt for The Shish. But ahh well, it's all for fun!!

From 07-10-07 - Tu...

The ultimate worst for me are long stairs or run-ups...i practically come to a standstill on those areas. Otherwise, i'm fairly well skilled, my barrier-hopping is pretty solid, as are mounts and dismounts. The other tough area is cornering on grass, but i think the used tires i bought are too worn, and so we'll see how this changes when the Block 8's i ordered arrive.......

I'm LOVING my Salsa Chili Con Crosso. It rides like a dream, super comfortable, looks awesome and fits me great. I can hardly wait to take off the 'cross tires and winterize it, and await the rain....this will be excellent motivation for the crappy days. After a month and a half riding it, it was nice to hop back on the Argon18 too tho...i'm liking my bikes. =)

From 07-10-14 - Cr...

Below are my latest race reports, and i'm also excited to have finally met Christine 'Peanut' Vardaros in person, after a million years of emailing! This was at the San Francisco Vegetarian Festival, and she at Art Eggersten shared an excellent presentation.

Art is brilliant, he's a coach of professional and olympic-level athletes and specializes in whole-foods vegan nutrition, and is one of the few people you'll encounter who will tell you that most people are getting WAY too much protein. He advocates something like 0.384 grams per kg of lean body mass per day. That puts me under 30 grams a day - i'm trying it out, and so far so good the last few weeks. Art's food blog is here.

The gist of this is that most people are suffering from acidosis, their body remains in an acidic state, which inhibits recovery and leads to long-term problems like osteoporosis. By focusing on whole foods (ie, raw or steamed veggies, fruits, grains) this state is avoided almost completely, allowing for much faster recovery, and a much higher density of nutrition than processed foods can offer. I've been leaning this way, and am finding it to be favorable. I feel *much* better after a hard training ride after eating a bunch of greens and some grains, than if i were to eat something more traditional like pasta. It's really noticeable. His ProBar is also pretty damn tasty, not available in Canada unfortunately!!

Here's Christine and i from the SF Veg Vest, Blue Steel!! Follow along in her blog as this vegan is tearing it up at the World Cup cyclocross series.

From 07-10-03 - Ri...

Race reports:

Oct 8 - Turkey Cross, Victoria

Awesome course, i felt totally at home, as 333m of each course was around my turf, the velodrome! The rest of the course wove around the Juan de Fuca center, including over the BMX course. Go motto or go home!

I've been stricken with a lingering cold since SF (too many planes and people!), and so wasn't on my best game, but got a good start position, and stuck with the front group for the first lap, then faded in the following laps, finishing ~16th (out of around 25 starts in Intermediate.) Worst part for me was the run-up, best part were the long and flat sections, like the velodrome. =)

I was given'er tho, my average HR over nearly 50mins was 186bpm. Zoiks Scooby! I wonder if maybe i'm going *too* hard, and if i backed off a bit if i'd do better...?

Full gallery of shots here, select shots below.

From 07-10-07 - Tu...

From 07-10-07 - Tu...

From 07-10-07 - Tu...

From 07-10-07 - Tu...

Oct 14 - Cross in the Valley, Duncan

I wasn't quite as fond of this course, tho there were a few really neat elements, like a huge mud pit, and a sand pit you'd hit 90 degrees off a big fast straight-away which i thought i'd die in each lap! The big sandy run-across was a nightmare, filling cleats with sand, and all the grassy corner wreaked havoc on me.. Once more finished 16th with ~23 starters in the Intermediate category.

More select photos, full gallery here.

From 07-10-14 - Cr...

From 07-10-14 - Cr...

From 07-10-14 - Cr...

From 07-10-14 - Cr...

There's also been an underground Wed series, which has been a hoot, thanks to the peeps for organizing these, much appreciated!! There were pretty big turnouts, upwards of 40 i'd say.

Two more ridecams have been posted, shots as i'm out and about, including a bunch from SF, and the Wed 'cross races.

• RideCam 06
• RideCam 07

I'm also happy to announce that OA Victoria has expanded, and i've got two teammates for the 2008 season on the road, track and 'cross, my pals Emile and Marty! Look out, as we'll be tearing up the track scene. =)

From 07-10-07 - Tu...

Lots more pics of them in the galleries as well. I'm excited to have teammates, after racing solo for more than 2yrs! OA Vic is expanding as well, we're up to 15 members, most are triathletes, but some are getting lured to the road and track as well. ;)

Two races remain this year, the 3rd 'Cross on the Rocks event in Nanaimo on Nov 4th, and the fifth and final Track BC Cup in Burnaby on the Nov 11th weekend, where i'll be defending my 2nd place standing in the series. Matt Chater should be declared the champ, no way anyone is going to catch him, fantastic racing buddy!!

After that, i finally get to rest for a bit...phew!!

Noisy out!

Trackfest #3 and a NEW CROSS BIKE!!

The last few days have been pretty exciting, check it:

Trackfest #3 / BC Cup #4

Final big race in Victoria this year, i'm pretty toasted from all the organizing...still, very rewarding!

From 07-09-08 - Tr...

Quick summary of the event, i raced 'A' of course, and in the bunch races seven started in each:

From 07-09-08 - Tr...

Madisons - i paired up with speedster Julian Base who has the coolest wheels. For most of the two races, he thought that he needed to maintain 30kph in the corners (like in Burnaby) so while everyone else did about 1.5 lap exchanges, i was doing 2-2.5...add to that i raced the first one in a 79" gear (oops! I was in a rush..), we did alright finishing 3rd both times (out of four teams.)

500m ITT - felt great, but was spinning out...realized i put on the 15t instead of the 14t cog...d'oh..got my slowest time in a while of 39-something..5th of five starters. Marty, my new OA teammate, raced B and came in 2nd behind Cooper.

30 Lap Scratch - really surprised myself with my best ride of the day, finished 3rd in this event, which normally leaves me further back.. I just took it easy, no big moves, saving for the final sprint, and it paid off! Fast race, averaged nearly 44kph.

Sprints - i don't do matched sprints, but again, Marty came in 2nd behind the indomitable Mike Cooper!

25 Lap Tempo - man, this race was a lot of work! Of course, it was just attack after attack...finished 5th, but only four points separated 2nd thru 5th. My Madison partner Julian was the sprint king and took the most points.

Keirin - my keirin mojo has returned! I got myself into a good position and held it, got on Chater's wheel when the sprint began, and stayed there to the line, finishing 3rd! Hit 62kph, woohoo! I haven't mentioned that i've been trying out 165mm cranks (instead of the 170's i've been using for years) and at these high cadences, they feel AMAZING!!! I'm really liking the short cranks. =)

Marty had an even more impressive performance - he got a crummy position off the start, but in the final stretch coming out of the corner, he powered up, around and over the entire field to nip Cooper at the line! Woohoo!! Victory for Marty and OrganicAthlete Victoria!!! Marty finished 2nd in the B Sprint Omnium, kick ass dude!!

From 07-09-08 - Tr...

Points Race - my favorite event, but was a bit tuckered since i'd done another Madison right before. Still, gave it what i could, collected points in all but one sprint, and finished 4th. Chater and Base were in full control this race, leaving Emile and myself to fight for the scraps.

Overview - i'm quite happy with my riding, i thought i'd suck ass due to an overall exhaustion from all the racing this year, but i rode quite well, perhaps even better than previous events in some respects! I think i'm learning how my body works, and optimizing as much as i can... I finished 4th in the Endurance Omnium, and in the overall BC Cup standings, i'm now solidly in 2nd...hopefully i can hold that at the final BC Cup in November! I think it's pretty unlikely i'll be able to catch (and beat!) Matt Chater, who's well away in 1st.

More TT Thoughts

My previous posting has a huge outline of my TT performance (or lack there-of) this year, and TT guru Don Gillmore suggested that the traffic on the course might be the difference... I did note that in my last effort, there were practically no cars, and lots of traffic can mean flying down the highway portion 6kph faster (or more!)

Don said that if i've improved in every other area (including Pursuits) and not this one event, then it's likely that this event has changed....i think Ockham's Razor is appropriate in this instance.

New Salsa Cross Bike!

Check it:

From 07-09-11 - Ri...

Pretty fantastic, eh??

From 07-09-11 - Ri...

I absolutely *love* my new bike!! It's so damn cool!! Marty and i took off for it's first ride, and it was SO FUN! We cruised around, looking for parks, and would zip around on the trails, then hit the road again, and look for the next park. It's so great to ride around the roads at speed, and then be able to cruise around on other terrain! CX bikes are so much fun, i didn't realize this before! (Since i hadn't bough 'cross tires before.)

Anyway, the bike is *nearly* complete. Currently i've got my road wheels, Chorus groupo, Ritchey Comp bars, Specialized Team stem (it's kinda weird being 'high', but rides nice!), and the new Specialized Phenom saddle, which is basically the Toupe for offroad. Light.

For brakes, i've taken the original XT V-Brakes off my MTB, and while they feel a bit different, they're working quite well. When i get my new Mavic wheel, i'll be switching over to a disc brake on the front (got a 29'er coming, complete with bladed spokes, yip!)

I'm still waiting on the cranks, so have a cheap, heavy BB in there, and Tiagara cranks (thanks Marty!), but it'll be replaced with more Chorus. I'll also find a black anodized seatpost, not sure if i'll go with carbon yet, or maybe just another Thomson...i've liked the one on my Argon18.

I'm also on a quest to locate those funky orange Maxxis 'cross tires that you see people like Kabush riding around on....if anyone can score me a pair, let me know!!

That's all the excitement for now, a bunch of road racing this weekend, including my first hillclimb..eeep!

Here are some more Trackfest pics from Roland:

http://picasaweb.google.com/davenoisy/070908TrackfestRoland

And here's Ridecam 05:

http://picasaweb.google.com/davenoisy/070911Ridecam05

From 07-09-11 - Ri...

PS - Thanks again to Murray for the Rudy's and lenses! I finally have dark lenses! Yay!